Maps in a Mirror: Fables and Fantasies
About this audiobook
This third volume of Orson Scott Card's five-book anthology of short stories features ten fantasies and fables full of princesses and giants, bears and monkeys, magic and revelation. Discover the pitfalls of paradise, how to handle a dragon, the true secret of happiness, and much more. Card offers background commentaries for each story in a series of afterwords and introductions.
Unaccompanied SonataA musical child prodigy, raised alone in a cabin so that his only influences come from nature, plays a complicated instrument capable of a wide range of sound. Against his keepers' wishes, he is introduced to the music of Bach and is ejected from his musical Eden. As he strives to make music, his nemesis strives to stop him.
A Cross-Country Trip to Kill Richard NixonA young man blames all of America's problems on former president Richard Nixon.
The Porcelain SalamanderA curse can be lifted only once it is complete.
Middle WomanAn average woman—who is a middle child, of middle income, and living mid-way between her other two sisters—meets a cruel, trickster dragon on the road who grants her three wishes. Through wisdom and compassion, she is able to outsmart his trickery.
The Bully and the BeastA giant hired as the king's bully falls hopelessly for the king's daughter, the most beautiful woman in the world.
The Princess and the BearA magic bear saves a princess' life twice: once from a wolf in the forest and once from her own husband.
SandmagicA young boy who watches his parents die vows to avenge their pain. This story is set in the Mithermages universe, which includes the story "Stonefather."
The Best DayA woman rejects an old peddler's explanation that happiness is a matter of taking joy in overcoming the difficulties in life. Instead, she prefers to buy a traveling medicine man's elixir of happiness which promises that your best day will be with you forever. In reliving one happy day from her past she misses out on the rest of her life.
A Plague of ButterfliesSelfishly choosing to save his own life by not slaying a dragon, Amasa becomes involved in evil and allows it to flourish. Since it's too late to change matters, he must suffer eternal anguish knowing what he has done.
The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in FunParadise can have its hidden pitfalls.
About the author
Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Saga, which chronicles the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, which follows on the novel Ender's Shadow and is set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, which tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien "Buggers." Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977--the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelette version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog. The novel-length version of Ender's Game, published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin. Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers' workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University. He is the author many science fiction and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series "The Tales of Alvin Maker" (beginning with Seventh Son), and stand-alone novels like Pastwatch and Hart's Hope. He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah. Card's work also includes the Mithermages books (Lost Gate, Gate Thief), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old. Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.
Read by David Birney, Paul Boehmer, Emily Janice Card, Gabrielle de Cuir, Rosalyn Landor, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki, and Mirron Willis
Rosalyn Landor has worked as an actress since the age of seven, both in Europe and the United States. Her extensive list of credits includes leading roles on PBS's Masterpiece Theater, miniseries on all major networks, films, theater, and audio productions. She is an Audie Award nominee and winner, and she has won several Earphones Awards. She was chosen by AudioFile as a Best Voice of 2009 and 2010.
Mirron Willis has narrated over 200 audiobooks across various literary genres and has won several Earphone Awards for Excellence and is an Audie Award finalist and winner. Notable works include Ginny Gall by Charlie Smith, The Smokey Dalton Series by Kris Nelscott; My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte; The Long Fall (Booklist, Best of 2009) and others by Walter Mosley; Uncle Tom's Cabin, Elijah of Buxton, The Translator; and Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B Dubois. In three seasons at the Ensemble Theatre (Houston, Texas), Mirron appeared as JP in What I Learned in Paris, Malcolm X in The Meeting, Henry in Race, and as Countee Cullen in Knock Me a Kiss (2013 Giorgee Award for Best Leading Actor). Other roles include Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry VI Parts 2 & 3, and A Raisin in the Sun with the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has also performed as guest narrator with the Houston Symphony. Film and TV guest appearances include Criminal Minds, Private Practice, The Exes, Monk, 24, Seinfeld, Cheers, The Parkers, Living Single, E.R., Star Trek, and Independence Day, among others. Mirron resides and records audiobooks on his family's historic ranch in East Texas.
Read by David Birney, Paul Boehmer, Emily Janice Card, Gabrielle de Cuir, Rosalyn Landor, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki, and Mirron Willis
Paul Boehmer attended his first Shakespearean play while in high school; he knew then that he was destined to become the classically trained actor he is today. Graduating with a master's degree, Paul was cast as Hamlet by the very stage actor who inspired his career path. A nod from the Universe he'd chosen aright! Paul has worked on Broadway and extensively in regional theater. Coinciding with another of his passions, sci-fi, Paul has been cast in various roles in many episodes of Star Trek. Paul's love of literature and learning led him by nature to his work as a narrator for audiobooks, his latest endeavour. Paul is married to the love of his life, Offir, and they live in Los Angeles with their two midnight-rambling tomcats, Dread and David.
Gabrielle de Cuir is a Grammy-nominated and Audie Award-winning producer whose narration credits include the voice of Valentine in Orson Scott Card’s Ender novels, Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan, and Natalie Angier’s Woman, for which she was awarded AudioFile magazine’s Golden Earphones Award. She lives in Los Angeles where she also directs theatre and presently has several projects in various stages of development for film.
Kevin Baker is the author of one previous novel, Sometimes You See It Coming, and served as chief historical researcher for the recently published The American Century by Harold Evans. He is married and lives in New York City.John Rubenstein won a Theater World Award, a Tony, and a Drama Desk Award for his performances in Pippin and Children of a Lesser God.
Stefan Rudnicki is an award winning audiobook narrator, director and producer. He was born in Poland and now resides in Studio City, California. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks and has participated in over a thousand as a writer, producer, or director. He is a recipient of multiple Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as a Grammy Award, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Ray Bradbury Award. He received AudioFile’s award for 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Along with a cast of other narrators, Rudnicki has read a number of Orson Scott Card's best-selling science fiction novels. He worked extensively with many other science fiction authors, including David Weber and Ben Bova. In reviewing the twentieth anniversary edition audiobook of Card’s Ender's Game, Publishers Weekly stated, "Rudnicki, with his lulling, sonorous voice, does a fine job articulating Ender's inner struggle between the kind, peaceful boy he wants to be and the savage, violent actions he is frequently forced to take." Rudnicki is also a stage actor and director.
Judy Young is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.
